Substrate processing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A substrate processing apparatus includes a chamber, a susceptor provided in the chamber, a shower plate having a plate part provided with a plurality of through holes and formed of a conductor, a ring-shaped part connected to an outer edge of the plate part, surrounding the plate part and formed of a conductor and a lead wire embedded in the ring-shaped part and surrounding the plate part and the susceptor in plan view, the shower plate being provided so as to face the susceptor in the chamber, and a DC power supply that supplies a direct current to the lead wire.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/890,850 filed Feb. 7, 2018, which was a Continuation-in-Part of U.S.Patent Application No. 15/471,376 filed Mar. 28, 2017, the entirecontent of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND Field

Examples are described which relate to a substrate processing apparatusand a method for processing the substrate.

Background Art

JP2009-152603 discloses a plasma CVD apparatus having a cleaningfunction has an improved shower plate with holes having a uniformcross-sectional area to yield a high cleaning rate. The shower plate mayserve as an electrode, and may have an electrically conductive extensionconnected to a power source. The shower plate, through which bothcleaning gas and reaction source gas flow, may include a hole machinedsurface area with a size different than conventionally used to ensure agood film thickness uniformity during a deposition process. The size ofthe hole machined surface area may vary based on the size of a substrateto be processed, or the size of the entire surface of the shower plate.

JP2016-122654 discloses a method and an apparatus for plasma processingof substrates. In this disclosure, a processing chamber has a substratesupport and a lid assembly facing the substrate support. The lidassembly has a plasma source that includes an inductive coil disposedwithin a conductive plate, and may include nested conductive rings. Theinductive coil is substantially coplanar with the conductive plate, andinsulated from the conductive plate by an insulator that fits within achannel formed in the conductive plate or nests within the conductiverings. A field concentrator is provided around the inductive coil, andinsulated from the inductive coil by isolators. The plasma source issupported from a conductive support plate. A gas distributor suppliesgas to the chamber through a central opening of the support plate and tothe plasma source from a conduit disposed through the conductive plate.

The shower plate in JP2009-152603 is an electrode of a parallel planarplasma CVD apparatus. In the apparatus configuration of JP2009-152603,relative to a plasma density directly below a central part of the showerplate, a plasma density directly below the outside of the shower platethat surrounds the central part sometimes decreases. This results in aproblem that it is not possible to perform uniform plasma processing onthe entire surface of the substrate. For example, film formation becomesinsufficient at and around an outer edge of a wafer, and in-planeuniformity of film thickness and film quality become degraded.

SUMMARY

Some examples described may address the above-described problems. Someexamples described herein may provide a shower plate, a substrateprocessing apparatus and a method for processing a substrate capable ofapplying uniform plasma processing to the substrate.

In some examples, a substrate processing apparatus includes a chamber, asusceptor provided in the chamber, a shower plate having a plate partprovided with a plurality of through holes and formed of a conductor, aring-shaped part connected to an outer edge of the plate part,surrounding the plate part and formed of a conductor and a lead wireembedded in the ring-shaped part and surrounding the plate part and thesusceptor in plan view, the shower plate being provided so as to facethe susceptor in the chamber, and a DC power supply that supplies adirect current to the lead wire.

In some examples, a method for processing a substrate includes providingthe substrate on a susceptor, and applying RF power to a shower plateprovided on the susceptor, the shower plate having a plate part providedwith a plurality of through holes and formed of a conductor, and aring-shaped part connected to an outer edge of the plate part,surrounding the plate part and formed of a conductor, supplying a gasonto the substrate via the plurality of through holes and therebygenerating plasma on the substrate. In applying RF power, a DC currentis made to flow through a lead wire embedded in the ring-shaped part andsurrounding the plate part in plan view or a susceptor inner lead wireembedded in the susceptor and provided to be ring-shaped in plan viewalong an outer edge of the susceptor, thereby forming a magnetic fielddirectly above an outer edge of the substrate.

In some examples, a substrate processing apparatus includes a chamber, asusceptor provided in the chamber, a shower plate that includes a platepart provided with a plurality of through holes and formed of aconductor, and a ring-shaped part connected to an outer edge of theplate part, surrounding the plate part and formed of a conductor, theshower plate being provided so as to face the susceptor in the chamber,a susceptor inner lead wire embedded in the susceptor and provided to bering-shaped in plan view along an outer edge of the susceptor, and a DCpower supply that supplies a DC current to the susceptor inner leadwire.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a substrate processing apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the lead wire and the susceptor;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the shower plate and thesusceptor;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the shower plate and the susceptorwith plasma;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a plasma density;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the shower plate and the susceptor;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the shower plate and the susceptor;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a substrate processing apparatus;

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of the susceptor and the periphery thereof;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the heater lead wire;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the susceptor inner lead wire and a covertherefor; and

FIG. 12 is a detailed diagram showing a substrate processing apparatusand wiring location.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A shower plate, a substrate processing apparatus and a method forprocessing a substrate will be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings. The same or corresponding components will beassigned the same reference numerals and duplicate description may beomitted.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a substrate processing apparatus 10.The substrate processing apparatus 10 is a parallel planar plasmaprocessing apparatus. The substrate processing apparatus 10 is providedwith a chamber 12. The chamber 12 is called a “reactor chamber.” Asusceptor 14 is provided in the chamber 12. The susceptor 14 is a parton which a substrate is mounted. In some examples, a resistance heatingapparatus is embedded in the susceptor 14. The susceptor 14 may beelectrically grounded. The susceptor 14 is provided with susceptor pins15 protruding from the susceptor 14 or housed in the susceptor 14 so asto be used to lift/lower the substrate.

An exhaust duct 16 formed of, for example, an insulator is providedabove the chamber 12. The exhaust duct 16 is formed into a ring shape soas to surround the susceptor 14 in plan view. A gas to be used forsubstrate processing is guided into the exhaust duct 16, then passesthrough an exhaust pipe 19 and is exhausted to the outside.

A shower plate 18 is provided above the exhaust duct 16. The showerplate 18 is provided with a plate part 18A, a ring-shaped part 18B and alead wire 18C. The plate part 18A is a conductor provided with aplurality of through holes 18 a. The through holes 18 a penetrate theplate part 18A in a y-axis direction. The ring-shaped part 18B is aconductor connected to an outer edge of the plate part 18A andsurrounding the plate part 18A. The plate part 18A and the ring-shapedpart 18B are made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy or anotherappropriate metal. The lead wire 18C is embedded in the ring-shaped part18B. The lead wire 18C surrounds the plate part 18A in plan view. Thelead wire 18C may surrounds the susceptor 14 in plan view. The lead wire18C may be covered with an insulating coat so as to be electricallyinsulated from the ring-shaped part 18B.

In the chamber 12, the susceptor 14 and the shower plate 18 face eachother. The shower plate 18 and the susceptor 14 provide a structure witha pair of parallel flat plates. That is, the shower plate 18 and thesusceptor 14 provide parallel planar electrodes.

In order to generate plasma, high frequency power supplies 22 and 24 areelectrically connected to the plate part 18A and the ring-shaped part18B via a matching circuit 20. The high frequency power supplies 22 and24 supply RF power to the plate part 18A and the ring-shaped part 18B.The high frequency power supplies 22 and 24 apply electric power at afrequency of, for example, several hundreds of kHz to several tens ofMHz to the plate part 18A and the ring-shaped part 18B. To improvecontrollability of film quality, the high frequency power supply 22 maysupplies a low frequency component and the high frequency power supply24 may supplies a high frequency component.

A DC power supply 30 is connected to the lead wire 18C to supply adirect current to the lead wire 18C. The DC power supply 30 supplies adirect current of, for example, on the order of 1 A to the lead wire18C. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the lead wire 18C and the susceptor 14.The lead wire 18C is provided in a ring shape so as to surround thesusceptor 14. A distance X2 between the lead wire 18C and an outer edge14 a of the susceptor 14 is, for example, on the order of 5 to 10 mm.For this reason, the lead wire 18C is located 5 to 10 mm outside theouter edge 14 a of the susceptor 14. An arrow in FIG. 2 denotes adirection of direct current flow of the lead wire 18C. The DC powersupply 30 causes a direct current to flow through the lead wire 18C in aclockwise direction as indicated by the arrow.

Now, FIG. 1 will be described again. A gas supply pipe 40 is connectedto a top of the plate part 18A. A valve 42 is provided at some midpointof the gas supply pipe 40. The valve 42 can open/close the gas supplypipe 40. Furthermore, a gas source 44 that supplies a gas is connectedto the gas supply pipe 40. The gas source 44 supplies various gases tobe used for processing of the substrate. Examples of such gas include amaterial gas, a reaction gas and a purge gas. The gas source 44 maysupply all kinds of known gases to be used to generate plasma. A gas issupplied to a position directly above the susceptor 14 from the gassource 44 through the gas supply pipe 40, a space directly above theplate part 18A and the through holes 18 a.

The high frequency power supplies 22 and 24, the matching circuit 20,the DC power supply 30, the valve 42 and the gas source 44 are connectedto a PMC (process module controller) 50. The PMC 50 controls operationsof the high frequency power supplies 22 and 24, the matching circuit 20,the DC power supply 30, the valve 42 and the gas source 44 based on aprescribed recipe.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the shower plate 18 and the susceptor 14.When processing a 300 mm wafer, a width X1 of the susceptor 14 is, forexample, 302 to 304 mm. A distance X2 between the outer edge 14 a of thesusceptor 14 and the lead wire 18C in a horizontal direction is, forexample, on the order of 5 to 10 mm. Therefore, the lead wire 18C isprovided not directly above the susceptor 14 but outside a positiondirectly above the susceptor 14. In FIG. 3, the lead wires 18C arelocated one on each of left and right sides of the ring-shaped part 18B.A direct current flows through the right-side lead wire 18C toward thefront direction of the figure and flows through the left-side lead wire18C toward the back direction of the figure.

A method for processing a substrate using the substrate processingapparatus 10 will be described. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of theshower plate 18 and the susceptor 14 where plasma processing on asubstrate is in progress. First, a substrate 60 is mounted on thesusceptor 14. This step is called a “mounting step.” The substrate 60is, for example, a 300 mm wafer. A distance between an outer edge of thesubstrate 60 and the outer edge 14 a of the susceptor 14 in thehorizontal direction is, for example, on the order of 1 to 2 mm.Therefore, a distance X3 in FIG. 4 is, for example, 1 to 2 mm.

Next, the process proceeds to a plasma step. In the plasma step, plasma62 is generated above the substrate 60 by supplying a gas onto thesubstrate 60 via the plurality of through holes 18 a while applying RFpower to the plate part 18A and the ring-shaped part 18B. Morespecifically, the PMC 50 operates the high frequency power supplies 22and 24, and thereby applies RF power to the plate part 18A and thering-shaped part 18B. Furthermore, the PMC 50 controls the gas source 44and the valve 42, and thereby supplies a prescribed gas onto thesubstrate 60.

In the plasma step, a direct current is made to flow through the leadwire 18C in addition to the above-described application of RF power andgas supply. More specifically, a direct current of on the order ofseveral A is made to flow from the DC power supply 30 into the lead wire18C. The direct current flowing through the lead wire 18C is, forexample, 1 A. Then, a direct current in a positive z-axis directionflows through the right-side lead wire 18C and a direct current in anegative z-axis direction flows through the left-side lead wire 18C inFIG. 4. A magnetic field MF1 is formed by the direct current flowingthrough the right-side lead wire 18C and a magnetic field MF2 is formedby the direct current flowing through the left-side lead wire 18C. Thedirection of the magnetic field MF1 is a counterclockwise direction andthe direction of the magnetic field MF2 is a clockwise direction.

Thus, it is possible to form a magnetic field directly above the outeredge of the substrate 60 by passing a direct current through the leadwire 18C. This magnetic field allows a magnetic force to be exerted tothe plasma 62. More specifically, the magnetic field provided isstronger directly above the outer edge of the substrate 60 and itsvicinity than at a position directly above the center of the substrate60. Furthermore, the lead wire 18C is located by a distance X2+X3outside the outer edge of the substrate 60. Thus, it is possible to forma magnetic field having a vertically downward component directly abovethe outer edge of the substrate 60 by passing a direct current throughthe lead wire 18C. As is shown by the magnetic fields MF1 and MF2 inFIG. 4, the magnetic field generated directly above the outer edge ofthe substrate 60 by passing the direct current through the lead wire 18Chas a “horizontal component” and a “vertical component.” The “horizontalcomponent” is a component in a direction opposite to the center of thesubstrate. The “vertical component” is a component in a verticallydownward direction.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a plasma density. A reference character“xa” denotes a position directly above a left end of the substrate 60and reference character “xb” denotes a position directly above a rightend of the substrate 60. When the substrate 60 is a 300 mm wafer, thedistance from “xa” to “xb” is 300 mm. The vertical axis in FIG. 5 showsa plasma density. In FIG. 5, a solid line shows a plasma densitygenerated at the substrate processing apparatus 10 according to theexample and a broken line shows a plasma density according to acomparative example. The substrate processing apparatus according to thecomparative example has a configuration in which the lead wire 18C isremoved from the substrate processing apparatus 10. In the case of thecomparative example, a significant decrease in the plasma density isobserved at a position directly above an end portion compared to aposition directly above the center of the substrate. This is assumed tobe mainly attributable to the fact that electrons located in thevicinity of a position directly above the outer edge of the substrate atthe beginning of plasma generation are attracted to cations existingdirectly above the center of the substrate at a high density and movedtoward directly above the center of the substrate.

In contrast, according to the substrate processing apparatus 10, amagnetic field is formed mainly in a region directly above the outeredge of the substrate 60 by passing a direct current through the leadwire 18C. This magnetic field causes electrons to move so as to windaround magnetic lines of force. This motion is called “cyclotronmotion.” Causing the magnetic field to trap electrons in the regiondirectly above the outer edge of the substrate 60 prevents electronsfrom being attracted to positions directly above the center of thesubstrate 60. Note that the outer edge of the substrate 60 has a certainwidth and the “region directly above the outer edge” has adoughnut-shaped region having a certain width in plan view. The “regiondirectly above the outer edge” is, for example, a region enclosed by thebroken line in FIG. 4.

Thus, by preventing electrons in the region directly above the outeredge of the substrate 60 from being attracted to positions directlyabove the center of the substrate 60, it is possible to prevent theplasma density in the region directly above the outer edge of thesubstrate from decreasing. It is thereby possible to keep substantiallyconstant the plasma density directly above the substrate 60. Thus,uniform plasma processing may be applied to the substrate 60. Moreover,the shower plate 18 according to the example may be simply manufacturedby only providing the lead wire 18C for the shower plate having twoconventionally known functions of gas supply and RF application.

The magnetic field provided in the region directly above the outer edgeof the substrate 60 has a “horizontal component” and a “verticalcomponent.” According to an experiment conducted by the inventor, thevertical component of the magnetic field serves to keep electrons in theregion directly above the outer edge of the substrate 60. In order toprovide a vertical component of sufficient intensity in the regiondirectly above the outer edge of the substrate 60, X2+X3 in FIG. 4 mustnot be 0. In other words, a certain distance needs to be kept betweenthe outer edge of the substrate 60 and the lead wire 18C in plan view. Asufficient vertical component may be provided by setting X2+X3 to, forexample, on the order of 5 to 10 mm. Note that X3 is quite a small valueand includes a slight difference depending on the substrate processingapparatus, and so X2 may be set to 5 to 10 mm.

The horizontal component of the magnetic field is a component in adirection opposite to the center of the substrate 60. That is, thehorizontal component is a component in a negative x-axis direction onthe left side of FIG. 4 and in a positive x-axis direction on the rightside of FIG. 4. Since these horizontal components act in a direction inwhich the plasma 62 is widened, this is considered to contribute toapplying uniform plasma processing to the substrate 60.

A lead wire may be provided on a side wall of the chamber 12 and amagnetic field may be formed in a region directly above the outer edgeof the substrate 60 by using the lead wire. However, since the side faceof the chamber 12 is distanced from the substrate 60, it is difficult toform a magnetic field of sufficient intensity in the region directlyabove the outer edge of the substrate 60. Although this problem may besolved by passing a high direct current through the lead wire, atemperature rise in the apparatus through which the high direct currentflows may cause various harmful effects. In contrast, since thesubstrate processing apparatus 10 embeds the lead wire 18C in thering-shaped part 18B of the shower plate 18, the distance between thelead wire 18C and the substrate 60 is small. It is thereby possible toform a magnetic field of sufficient intensity in the region directlyabove the outer edge of the substrate 60 without supplying a high directcurrent to the lead wire 18C.

The shower plate, the substrate processing apparatus and the method forprocessing a substrate according to some examples can be modified invarious ways without losing features thereof. For example, processingcontents of the substrate are not limited to film formation, but allkinds of processing using plasma may be adopted. The above-describedspecific numerical values are examples. The modifications described inthe example are also applicable to shower plates, substrate processingapparatuses and methods for processing a substrate according to thefollowing examples. Note that since the shower plates, substrateprocessing apparatuses and methods for processing a substrate accordingto the following examples have many points similar to those of theexample described, the description will focus on differences from theexample described.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the shower plate 18 and thesusceptor 14 according to another example. A plurality of lead wires 18Care provided in a cross-sectional view. The number of windings of thelead wire 18C ranges 10 to 100, for example. One lead wire may be wounda plurality of times or a plurality of individual lead wires may beprovided. A plurality of lead wires 18C appear in a cross-sectional viewin all cases. When a plurality of lead wires 18C are provided, it ispossible to form a magnetic field of sufficient intensity in a regiondirectly above the outer edge of the substrate by passing a directcurrent of, for example, 10 to 100 mA through the respective lead wiresin the plasma step. Providing a plurality of turns of the lead wire 18Cmakes it possible to reduce a direct current flowing through the leadwire 18C, and thereby prevent a temperature rise of the apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the shower plate 18 and thesusceptor 14 according to another example. The lead wire 18C is embeddedin a bottom end portion of the ring-shaped part 18B. The “bottom endportion” of the ring-shaped part 18B is a region including the bottomend of the ring-shaped part 18B. Therefore, the lead wire 18C accordingto the example is located in a negative y-axis direction more than thelead wire 18C. Providing the lead wire 18C in the bottom end portion ofthe ring-shaped part 18B makes it possible to reduce the distancebetween the lead wire 18C and the substrate in the vertical directionwhile keeping the distance between the lead wire 18C and the substratein the horizontal direction. Therefore, it is possible to supply astronger magnetic field than that of the example of the FIG. 1 to theregion directly above the outer edge of the substrate. Since the leadwire 18C is moved downward, it is possible to strengthen the verticalcomponent of the magnetic field in the region directly above the outeredge of the substrate.

The plasma density in the region directly above the outer edge of thesubstrate has been studied in some examples. However, since there is nota substantial positional difference between the outer edge of thesubstrate and the outer edge of the susceptor, the same discussions asthose described above will hold true even when the “region directlyabove the outer edge of the substrate” is read as the “region directlyabove the outer edge of the susceptor.” Furthermore, the featuresdescribed in some examples may be used in combination.

According to some examples, a direct current is made to flow through alead wire provided in the shower plate and a magnetic field is formed inan outside part of plasma. It is thereby possible to apply uniformplasma processing to the substrate.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the examples are possiblein the light of the above teachings.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a substrate processing apparatus accordingto another example. A susceptor inner lead wire 72 is embedded in thesusceptor 14. The susceptor inner lead wire 72 is connected to a DCpower supply 30. The DC power supply 30 supplies a DC current to thesusceptor inner lead wire 72.

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of the susceptor 14 of FIG. 8 and theperiphery thereof. The susceptor 14 includes a heater block 14A, aheater block 14B provided under the heater block 14A, and an upper block14C provided above the heater block 14A. For example, metal such as

SUS may be used as the materials of the heater blocks 14A and 14B, andthe upper block 14C. The upper block 14C is thinner than the heaterblocks 14A and 14B. The susceptor may be configured as one united body,for example by welding the lower surface of the upper block 14C and theupper surface 14 f of the heater block 14A to each other and welding thelower surface 14 r of the heater block 14A and the upper surface of theheater block 14B to each other.

A substrate 60 to be mounted on the upper block 14C is provided abovethe upper block 14C. The substrate 60 is a wafer, for example.

The susceptor inner lead wire 72 includes a first part 72 a and a secondpart 72 b. The first part 72 a penetrates through the heater blocks 14Aand 14B, and is connected to the DC power supply 30. The second part 72b is connected to the first part 72 a, and is provided between twoheater blocks 14A, 14B and the upper block 14C. The second part 72 b isprovided to be ring-shaped in plan view along the outer edge of thesusceptor.

A heater lead wire 80 is provided in the lower surface 14 r of theheater block 14A. The heater lead wire 80 is embedded in the susceptor,for example by interposing the heater lead wire 80 between the heaterblock 14A and the heater block 14B. The heater block 14B covers theheater lead wire 80, whereby the heater lead wire 80 can be preventedfrom being exposed. The heater lead wire 80 is connected to an AC powersupply 84 via a connection lead wire 82 penetrating through the heaterblock 14B. The AC power supply 84 supplies the heater lead wire 80 withan AC current, so that the heater lead wire 80 generates heat toincrease the temperature of the susceptor 14 up to a predeterminedtemperature. The heater block 14A is provided with the heater lead wire80, and the upper block 14C is provided with the second part 72 b of thesusceptor inner lead wire 72, thereby suppressing bidirectionalinterference of magnetic field caused by flow of current through theselead wires.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the heater lead wire 80. The heater lead wire80 has connection points 80 a, 80 b with the connection lead wire 82.The connection points 80 a, 80 b are located at the center of the heaterblock 14A. The heater lead wire 80 is shaped so as to pass from theconnection point 80 a through an outer portion of the heater block 14Aand reach the connection point 80 b.

A one-dotted chain line of FIG. 10 represents a plane position of thesecond part 72 b of the susceptor inner lead wire 72. The second part 72b of the susceptor inner lead wire 72 is located outside beyond theportion where the heater lead wire 80 is provided. Therefore, the heaterlead wire 80 is surrounded by the susceptor inner lead wire 72 in planview.

A method of processing a substrate by the substrate processing apparatusexemplified in FIGS. 8 to 10 will be described. In a plasma step, a DCcurrent is made to flow through the susceptor inner lead wire 72 to formmagnetic field directly above the outer edge of the substrate 60. Thismagnetic field is different from magnetic field which occurs by makingcurrent flow through the lead wire 18C provided in the above-describedshower plate 18. By making the DC current flow through the susceptorinner lead wire 72, magnetic field directing from the center side of theupper surface of the susceptor to the circumferential side of the uppersurface is formed, and Lorentz force caused by the magnetic field andplasma electric field is generated. The Lorentz force captures electronsin plasma directly above the susceptor, and pulls the plasma to thecircumferential portion as a whole, so that uniformity of the plasma canbe enhanced. Therefore, according to the configuration of FIGS. 8 to 10,an effect of correcting the plasma may be obtained.

The temperature of the susceptor 14 is controlled by the current flowingthrough the heater lead wire 80. For example, current of 5 A and 100 Wat 50 or 60 kHz is made to flow through the heater lead wire 80. When alarge DC current is made to flow through the susceptor inner lead wire72, there is a risk that the temperature distribution of the susceptor14 may become an unintended temperature distribution by the influence ofthe large DC current. Therefore, a relatively small current is made toflow through the susceptor inner lead wire 72.

It is considered that the magnetic field occurring directly above theouter edge of the substrate 60 due to flow of a relatively small DCcurrent through the susceptor inner lead wire 72 does not greatly changethe center portion of the plasma, but traps the plasma in theneighborhood of the susceptor inner lead wire 72. It is considered thatprovision of the magnetic field as described above is suitable forcorrecting a problem that the plasma density is reduced only on theperiphery of the plasma, for example.

When the wiring shape of the heater lead wire 80 is directly reflectedin the temperature distribution of the upper surface of the susceptor,it would be impossible to uniformly heat the substrate 60. Accordingly,when it is intended to uniformly heat the substrate 60, the thickness ofthe heater block 14A is increased to some extent. In this case, thephenomenon that the shape of the heater lead wire 80 is directlyreflected in the heat distribution of the substrate 60 may be avoided,so that the substrate 60 can be generally uniformly heated. Provision ofthe upper block 14C means that the distance between the heater lead wire80 and the substrate 60 is increased, and it contributes to provision ofthe susceptor inner lead wire 72 at a position close to the substrate60. Furthermore, since the second part 72 b of the susceptor inner leadwire 72 is provided along the outer edge of the susceptor, it does notgreatly influence the temperature at the center of the susceptor.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the susceptor inner lead wire 72 and acover therefor. Since the heat resisting temperature of a cover for ageneral lead wire generally ranges from 180° C. to 200° C., adielectric-breakdown risk of the cover occurs when the temperature ofthe susceptor is increased to 200° C. or more. Therefore, in a casewhere the temperature of the susceptor is assumed to increase, a coverwhich covers the susceptor inner lead wire 72 and has heat resistance tothe temperature of 500° C. or more may be provided. For example, thesusceptor inner lead wire 72 can be covered with an insulator 72 d, andthe insulator 72 d can be covered with siliglass braid 72 e.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a substrate processing apparatus and wiringlocation according to another example. This substrate processingapparatus includes a lead wire 18C embedded in a shower plate 18, and asusceptor inner lead wire 72 embedded in the susceptor 14. According tothis substrate processing apparatus, by making a DC current flow throughthe lead wire 18C or the susceptor inner lead wire 72 in the plasmastep, magnetic field may be formed directly above the outer edge of thesubstrate. The DC current may be made to flow through both the lead wire18C and the susceptor inner lead wire 72 at the same time. For example,the DC current may be supplied to both the lead wire 18C and thesusceptor inner lead wire 72 by one DC power supply 30 shown in FIG. 8.A DC current may be supplied from the DC power supply 30 to thesusceptor inner lead wire 72 while a DC current is supplied from anotherDC power supply to the lead wire 18C. A current smaller than the currentto flow through the lead wire 18C is made to flow through the susceptorinner lead wire 72, whereby the temperature increase of the susceptormay be suppressed and magnetic field may be confined only on theperiphery of the susceptor.

As described above, the substrate processing apparatus including thelead wire provided in the shower plate exemplified in FIGS. 1 to 7 andthe susceptor inner lead wire 72 provided in the susceptor exemplifiedin FIGS. 8 to 11 can be provided, thereby making it possible to adjustthe plasma distribution roughly by the magnetic field of the showerplate and finely by that of the susceptor.

The substrate processing apparatuses which have been exemplified abovemay be used as a PE-CVD (Plasma-Enhanced CVD) apparatus or a PE-ALD(Plasma-Enhanced ALD) apparatus. The substrate processing apparatuseswhich have been exemplified above may enhance the uniformity of theplasma distribution and make it possible to perform uniform processingon a substrate. Specifically, the substrate processing apparatuses maycontribute to uniformity in film thickness, film quality, or filmcoverage for a variable kinds of structures.

What is claimed is:
 1. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: achamber; a susceptor provided in the chamber; a shower plate thatcomprises a plate part provided with a plurality of through holes andformed of a conductor, and a ring-shaped part connected to an outer edgeof the plate part, surrounding the plate part and formed of a conductor,the shower plate being provided so as to face the susceptor in thechamber; a susceptor inner lead wire embedded in the susceptor andprovided to be ring-shaped in plan view along an outer edge of thesusceptor; and a DC power supply that supplies a DC current to thesusceptor inner lead wire.
 2. The substrate processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, comprising: a heater lead wire embedded in thesusceptor and surrounded by the susceptor inner lead wire in plan view;and an AC power supply that supplies an AC current to the heater leadwire.
 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2,wherein the susceptor comprises two heater blocks and an upper blockprovided above the two heater blocks, wherein the heater lead wire isprovided between the two heater blocks, and the susceptor inner leadwire is provided between the two heater blocks and the upper block. 4.The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising acover that covers the susceptor inner lead wire and has heat resistanceto a temperature of 500° C. or more.
 5. The substrate processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shower plate comprises alead wire embedded in the ring-shaped part and surrounding the platepart and the susceptor in plan view, and the lead wire is supplied witha DC current by the DC power supply or another DC power supply.
 6. Thesubstrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a highfrequency power supply that provides RF power to the plate part and thering-shaped part.